Golf gloves



June 14, 1966 B. w. BULLOCK GOLF GLOVES Filed Feb. 17, 1965 //VVE/VTO/?, 14 UllOQlf M, m

Boyd

ATTORNEYS 'swing, as thus far referred to. 'prior to and when the club head comes into contact Filed Feb. 17, 1965, Ser. No. 433,300 1 Claim. (Cl. 2-159) This invention relates to the general class of gloves and, more particularly, is for an improved pair of golf gloves.

The general object of this invention is to provide golf A United States Patent gloves that, when worn by the player, will serve to automatically improve his swing of the golf club; and, for the sake of a better understanding of this invention, I will now explain the theory upon which this improvement is based. The present illustration is in connection with the gloves of a right-handed player, although this same improvement may be embodied in a pair of gloves for a lefthanded player, as will be later explained.

It is to be understood, of course, that for the righthanded player the left hand is placed above the right hand in their positions about the club shaft; and, according to many professional instructors the left hand should dominate in the back swing of the club head away from the ball and also during the down swing of the club in returning the face of the club head to its initial position and into contact with the ball.- It is to be understood also that the right hand, as it grips the club shaft, should not interfere with the above-described action of the left hand; but, because of the natural tendency of the right hand to dominate in the case of a right-handed person, my invention contemplates precluding the undesirable effect of such tendency during the initial part of the golf However, immediately with the ball and, as the golf swing is then completed, the right hand will be depended upon to impart power and proper direction to the succeeding part of the golf swing. But, as above indicated, the right hand must not come into action prematurely so as to interfere with proper positioning of the club head with respect to the ball; the danger of such interference being that the right hand would turn the club shaft towards the left before actual contact of the club head with the ball and thereby prevent proper direction of the ball in flight.

Now, in order to assist a golf player in handling the golf club in the proper manner, according to the above theory, many professional instructors advise that, in the case of a right-handed player, the club shaft be gripped and held firmly by the palm and last three fingers of the left hand also by the two middle fingers of the right hand. The little finger of the right hand and the index finger of the left hand are to be recognized as the joining fingers which apply practically no pressure upon the club shaft and, likewise, the thumb and index finger of the right hand should rest only lightly upon the club shaft, these being referred to as the slip fingers in contrast to the grip fingers. The thumb of the left hand, which is positioned upon the opposite side of the club shaft from the three gripping fingers of the same hand, and also the palm of the right hand should rest only lightly but snugly upon the club shaft.

With this theory in mind, my present pair of golf gloves have inner surface areas of greater and less co-- efficients of friction so as to efiect gripping and slipping engagement of the several areas of the same with the shaft of the golf club in the most efficient manner for the purpose above described; and this constitutes the general object of the present invention.

More specifically, the object of this invention is to devise a pair of golf gloves in which the palm areas and the inner surfaces of the fingers of the gloves have greater and less coefficients of friction for proper engagement with the shaft of the golf club in the manner and according to the theory above set forth.

Another specific object of this invention is to devise a pair of golf gloves in which the palm and the inner surfaces of some of the fingers of one of the gloves and the inner surfaces of some of the fingers of the other glove have a high coefiicient of friction for gripping engagement with the shaft of the golf club and in which the inner surfaces of the other fingers of said one glove and the palm and inner surfaces of the other fingers of said other glove have a low coefiicient of friction for slipping engagement with the shaft of the golf club, in accordance with the theory above set forth.

Other objects will appear from the following description and. claim when considered together with the accompanying drawing.

FIG. 1 shows the palm side of the left glove embodying my present invention for a right-handed player;

FIG. 2 shows -the pahn side of the right glove embodying this invention for a right-handed player.

Referring now to the accompanying drawing in detail, the thumb 1 and index finger 2 of the left glove may be made entirely of material of low coefficient of friction, as for instance nylon cloth, or may have only their inner surfaces provided with such material; and the remainder of the same glove may be either made entirely of material of high coefficient of friction, as for instance epoxy or other plastic-treated fabric or leather, or may have only their inner surfaces provided with such material, that is the palm 3 and the other three fingers 4, 5 and 6.

The right glove, as shown in FIG. 2, will have its second finger 7 and third finger 8 so formed as to have high coefficient of friction upon the .inner surfaces thereof while the palm 9 and the inner surfaces of the thumb 10 and other two fingers 11 and 12 will have a low coefficient of friction. This may be accomplished by either forming the several parts of the glove entirely of suitable material or by so forming only their inner surfaces; and the materials of high and low coefficients of friction may be as above indicated.

As a result there will be obtained a slip of the thumb and index finger of the left glove and also the palm and thumb and index and little fingers of the right glove with respect to the shaft of the golf club; while there will be obtained a positive gripping engagement of the palm and the last three fingers of the left glove and the two middle fingers of the right glove with the shaft of the golf club so as to obtain the proper and desired movement of the club throughout the back swing and the succeeding forward completion of the swing of the club in accordance with the theory advocated by professional instructors, as above noted. In this way it will be possible for the player to exercise better control over the swing of the golf club and therefore over the flight of the ball and to thereby improve his game.

According to my observation, one primary reason why most golf players do not more greatly improve their game is that they do not know precisely the proper manner of holding and handling the clubs during actual play. With all the written and oral instruction, it is of course Practically impossible for one person to impart to another a clear understanding of the most eflEicient degree of engagement of the several individual parts of the two hands with the club shaft throughout the successive phases of the golf swing; and hence I have now devised a pair of gloves that embody what might be regarded as an automatic means of ensuring proper engagement of the club shaft by the several parts of the players two hands in the manner above explained so as to thereby make it more nearly natural for the player to so manipulate his hands as to exercise proper control in the use of the golf club and to thereby achieve a marked improvement in his game.

Whereas, as above noted, the present form of disclosure is for a right-handed player, this same invention may be embodied in a pair of gloves for a left-handed player by reversing the arrangement. In that case, the right glove will have its thumb and index finger formed as slip fingers while the remaining portion thereof will be of gripping character; and the left glove will have its two middle fingers formed as gripping fingers while the remaining portions thereof will be adapted for slipping relation to the shaft of the golf club.

It is to be understood that the present form of disclosure is merely for the purpose of illustration and that there might be devised various modifications thereof without departing from the spirit of my invention as herein set forth and claimed.

As a matter of convenience, the term fingers, as used in the following claim, may be understood to include the thumbs except where otherwise specified or distinguished.

What I claim is:

A pair of golf gloves in whichthe palm and inner surfaces of the thumb and index and little fingers of one effected slipping relation between the surfaces of low coefficient of friction and the shaft of the golf club and positive gripping engagement of the surfaces of high coeflicient of friction with the shaft of the golf club in performance of the complete swing of the golf club.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 709,595 9/1902 Carson 2-161 2,728,082 12/ 1955 Slimovitz 2167 FOREIGN PATENTS 222,826 10/ 1957 Australia.

JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

G. V. LARKIN, Assistant Examiner. 

